Post-ABC News Poll Public Backs Senate Plan to Slash Tax Cut Bush Support Strong, but U.N. Role in Postwar Iraq Wanted
By Richard Morin Washington Post Staff Writer
Most Americans want to slash President George W. Bush's proposed tax cut as the country grows increasingly resigned to a longer, costlier and much bloodier war in Iraq, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
The survey found that 65 percent of the public favors the Senate-passed plan to reduce Bush's $726 billion tax cut by more than half in order to pay for the war, shore up Social Security and reduce the deficit-a view shared equally by Republicans as well as by Democrats and political independents.
Nearly three in 10 would eliminate the tax cut entirely, the poll found.
Most Americans also want the United Nations to play a leading role in postwar Iraq. By nearly 2 to 1, the public believes that the United Nations and not the United States should have primary responsibility for rebuilding Iraq and help setting up a new Iraqi government, a move opposed by the Bush administration but supported by six in 10 Democrats, independents and members of the president's own Republican Party.
"The United Nations needs to step up in that role," said Raul Hernandez, 38, of Yuma, Ariz. "They didn't do their job before the war. After the war, it shouldn't be the United States by itself cleaning up. It should be the world."
Taken together, the broad bipartisan support for both a U.N.-led postwar reconstruction effort and opposition to the Bush tax plan represent a double blow to the president, who nonetheless continues to receive broad public backing for the war effort.
Three in four continue to support the war, also unchanged in the past week. A larger majority-82 percent-says the war is going well for the United States and its allies, although only a third say the conflict is going "very well." Seven in 10 approve of the job Bush is doing handling the overall situation with Iraq.
"I think the war is going fairly well," said Michelle Decker, 34, of Seabrook, Tex. "Obviously we'd like to see no casualties on our side but that's not possible. We're starting to see how underhanded [the Iraqis] are. I can't believe they're willing to put women and children in the line of fire."
At the same time, the survey found that hopes for a quick and relatively casualty-free end to the war have largely vanished in the face of growing Iraqi resistance, miscues on the battlefield and swirling sandstorms that grounded allied aircraft for several days this week and slowed down the ground invasion.
Public fears of a bloody conflict have soared in recent days. More than eight in 10-82 percent-now say U.S. forces will suffer "significant" additional casualties, up from 54 percent in a survey conducted on Sunday.
Nearly six in 10 believe the war will last months rather than days or weeks, a view expressed by fewer than half of those interviewed four days earlier. Four in 10 say it's likely that the United States will get bogged down in a drawn-out war with Iraq, and one in four said it was a "mistake" to attack Iraq.
"It's a big mistake," said Lilly Torres, 37, of Morgan City, La. "I don't understand why we went to war to begin with. We have enough problems in the U.S. like serial killers, murders and drugs. Clean your own backyard before you clean somebody else's."
Six in 10 say the U.S. military is applying sufficient force to the enemy-although three in 10 said the allies weren't being aggressive enough.
"The war is going pretty good, but we need to put more pressure on them," said Tim Leslein, 30, who lives in Columbus, Ohio. "'I think they need to . . . put the hammer down. Bush is fighting a political war and that's making it too hard."
And while most Americans say the Iraqi resistance is about what they expected it to be, the proportion who believe the enemy is putting up a tougher fight has doubled in the past four days, from 12 percent to 28 percent. Six in 10 say U.S. casualties so far in the conflict have been acceptable, a third disagree.
"I'm a little surprised that the Iraqis are fighting so hard," said Esther Streur, 75, of Elkhart, Ind.. "I thought they would give up pretty quickly. Eventually I think we're going to win, but those Iraqis are dirty and it's going to be a scary time for our boys."
Many Americans also question how broad the opposition to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein really is. About half the country believes the people of Iraq are on the side of the United States. But a third say most of the Iraqis remain loyal to Hussein, and the remainder says they aren't sure.
Most Americans believe that the United States and its allies are providing about the right amount of humanitarian aid to Iraqi civilians. Among those who say the allies aren't doing enough, a larger proportion blame the Iraqi military (48 percent) than fault the United States (33 percent).
A total of 508 randomly selected Americans were interviewed Thursday night for this survey. Margin of sampling error for the overall results is plus or minus 5 percentage points.